The End
by Ehryn
Summary: Two years after Julian gave his life to save Jenny and her friends from the Shadow Men Jenny is at college and trying to put the past behind her. But when Julian suddenly reappears and gives Jenny a shocking piece of news she finds her past catching up...
1. Chapter 1

Well well, I thought I'd put this here since it's a fanfiction and people might enjoy it... even if it's not actually finished yet.

I wrote this when I hadn't read the books in about... 8 years? And worked on info from Wikipedia so if there are any glaring inaccuracies please feel free to point them out to me. I can't see any myself but that doesn't mean they're not there! Forgive me for any OOCness but it's set two years after The Kill so I'm allowing myself a little license with the characters given that they will have undoubtedly matured further in the time between the end of L. J. Smith's books and the start of this fic.

Reviews and comments are welcomed and loved! :)

Disclaimer: Jenny and Julian are © L. J. Smith from her trilogy The Forbidden Game. All other characters are randomly thought up for my own amusement and belong to me, which is why they are lame and two-dimensional in comparison :3

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Chapter 1

The First Day

Jenny concentrated on her reflection as she slid a clip into the left side of her hair, the twin to the one she wore on the right. Her eyes glittered as she surveyed her appearance and she nodded at herself in satisfaction. A sudden flash of blue in the mirror made her heartbeat quicken, and she whirled around to find the source.

"Ju-" she began, then felt foolish. "It's been two years, Jenny. You're a college student now. Forget about all that, it's over…" she muttered to herself, a frown appearing on her pretty visage. One final check in the mirror and she trotted out of her bedroom door, swinging her rucksack over one shoulder.

It had been two months since she started college, and she was finding it refreshingly stimulating. She'd ended up at a University in Florida, far away from most of her friends, but the vivacious Jenny had soon made new ones so she never felt lonely. Meeting with Anne in the hall, Jenny locked her dorm and hailed her friend.

"Morning Anne!" she called brightly, and her friend skipped over.

"Morning Jenny, wow you look great today! Are those new clips?" Anne asked enthusiastically. An unfortunately plain but very kind girl, Anne often marvelled at the simplest of things other girls used to set off their natural charms.

"Nah, not really" Jenny chuckled, linking arms with Anne, "just haven't worn them here before."

The bell rang to signal everyone should get to their morning class, and Anne and Jenny parted ways in front of Jenny's first classroom.

"See ya later!" they called as Jenny entered her first class. Settling in her chair, she got out her English Literature texts and settled down to read through last week's work.

"Good Monday morning, class" the lecturer chirped brightly as he walked briskly into the classroom and set down a large pile of books. Jenny was vaguely aware of a student behind him also struggling with a large pile, one of which slid to the floor with a papery splat and the student groaned.

'Poor fellow,' Jenny thought, having had to carry the books before on the rare occasions she was slightly late to class.

"Well, this morning I have the delightful honour of introducing a new student to you all."

'Even poorer fellow, it's only his first day…' she mused, turning a page of her workbook with a moistened finger.

"Julian, would you like to introduce yourself?" the lecturer asked the new boy, and Jenny's head snapped up in surprise at the sound of that name. Her eyes locked with his piercing gaze, and she was vaguely aware that he was smiling.

"My name is Julian Shaden" he said, and his voice was rich and warm, "and I'm from Monessen, Pennsylvania."

Jenny couldn't tear her eyes from him, even as talking about the handsome boy erupted around her, she was mesmerised by his sapphire gaze.

"Oooh, Jenny's in lurrrrrve" she heard a friend tease nearby, and she regretfully dragged her gaze away from Julian.

"Don't be silly" she said, blushing furiously, "I was just trying to work out if we've met before, my Grandpa lived in Monessen you know…"

"So, you think you might have played together as kids or somethin'?" another student asked curiously.

"I… dunno, maybe?"

At that moment the lecturer called for everyone to settle down and 'Mister Shaden' to take a seat. Jenny couldn't concentrate for the whole lesson, and doodled runes all over her page instead of making notes. When the bell finally rang, she looked at the page in chagrin and hoped she'd be able to borrow someone else's notes. Packing away, she walked out of the class and headed for her locker to store her books – she had a free period next and was looking forward to relaxing before lunch. Suddenly, a sheaf of papers was thrust under her nose.

"What?" she exclaimed, surprised. Turning, she saw the new student bowed with his arm outstretched holding what appeared to be complete notes of today's lesson. "Uh…" Jenny was unsure what to say.

"You looked like you were doodling, so I brought you my notes." Julian straightened up and smiled, a warm look which contrasted his icy-blue eyes.

"Th… thanks?" Jenny stammered, unsure of what to say. His expression changed as he looked at her to one of chagrin, and he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"I know it's been two years, and I dyed my hair black, but surely you haven't forgotten me Jenny…" Julian's voice was full of deep hurt, and Jenny's hand reached out of her own volition to touch his shoulder.

"Shaden…?" she queried, "couldn't you have thought of a more inventive surname, Julian?" His head rose and a look of joy leapt into his eyes at her acceptance.

"I, uh, well…" he looked sheepish.

"You've changed a lot too. Wait, let's not talk here," Jenny was conscious that they had begun to get bumped by impatient students wanting to get by them, "we'll go and chat outside."

Grabbing his wrist, she pulled him to her locker, threw her books inside and then steered him out into the sunshine. Blinking, he groaned for a second as his vision adjusted.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to summer in Florida" he moaned, squinting. "It's so bright in this world!"

"Julian…" Jenny said sympathetically, a small smile crossing her lips as she found them a shady spot to sit in.

"Thank you."

When they were both seated comfortably, Jenny began to wonder what they would say to each other.

"How… how are you here?" she began, remembering that he had given his soul to the Shadow Men in her place.

"I… well… I'm only here for a week." Julian's answer was short and to the point. "I have seven days, and then I have to return. I… wanted to see you…" his last words were almost a whisper.

"But… it's been two years, Julian, two years. I… it's good to see you again." Somehow, Jenny felt like a high school student again, confessing a crush to a senior.

"I know, and I'm sorry for barging in on your life like this. But I needed to see you."

"But why? Whatever for?"

"We're fading away, Jenny. The Shadow Men and I. We're not long left in this world or any other. Soon you'll be free of us." His voice had taken on a rueful note.

"What! How can that be?"

"That's not all. When we vanish your memories of us will vanish too. You'll forget everything you went through in the Shadow World, and you'll forget me. That's… why I'm here. You can't forget memories made in the human world, even with Shadow Men."

"Oh… Ju…" tears rose in sweet-natured Jenny's eyes as she thought of the whole Shadow World vanishing. Even though they had been enemies at one time, she didn't want them to just disappear.

"It's ok" he smiled, "as long as I get to spend this week with you."

This made something snap in Jenny's mind.

"Well, you can't disappear with the Shadow World if you don't go back, right? And while you're here, we can find a way to stop it, right? Don't worry Julian, we'll think of something, I promise!" There was fire in her eyes as her brain worked overtime trying to think of some way to prevent their tragedy from occurring.

"Oh Jenny, dear Jenny!" Julian exclaimed, clapping his hands in glee. "I knew I could count on you!"

Jenny realised she'd been duped again by the handsome, manipulative Julian.

"Juliannnn" she frowned. "I thought you'd changed…"

"I have, somewhat." Julian laughed and placed his hand on Jenny's. "And I really do want to spend my last week in existence with you" he said sincerely, gazing into her eyes as he said it.

"I think… you are mistaken. It's not your last week at all…"


	2. Chapter 2

Part two of the first day, chapter two of this fic.

When I began writing this I planned to write seven or eight chapters and have each of them one day in the story. This... didn't work out. As I'm not even close to finishing the first day and this part was written, oh nearly 3 years after the first part? So I decided to split them up and just have a completely random story structure. Keep y'all guessing ;)

If you find the structure too confusing please let me know. I've used a lot of spacing to make it easier to read on a computer screen, even though it irks me to no end but I thought it would be easier this way. The paragraphs in this one are a lot longer though so tell me if you want me to try and revert back to the shorter ones of the first half.

Anyway, enjoy and as always - reviews and comments are welcome. Tell me if you enjoyed it and why, or if not constructive critique is always welcome! (Just don't pick on my awful writing style, I know it's bad and I don't know the meaning of punctuation, sorry in advance!)

Disclaimer: Jenny and Julian are (C) L. J. Smith from her trilogy The Forbidden Game. All other characters are randomly thought up on the spot for my own amusement.

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Chapter 2

"First of all," Jenny began, matter-of-factly, "how are you even here!" Her mind whirled with the possibilities - the last time she had seen Julian he had faded into nothingness in her arms after his name had been scratched out of the runestick that gave the Shadow Men life.

"More importantly," he countered, his impossibly blue eyes sparkling, "where's Tom?"

Jenny snorted. "Trust you to think of that before explaining yourself, Julian."

Julian simply looked at her and smiled his unfathomable smile, that mask he wore when he was in control unwavering. And, she supposed, she owed it to him to explain. After all, she had rejected him countless times for many reasons, but the main one being Tom.

"After... everything. We changed, we all did. But I think me most of all, because of you." In unison they both glanced to her left hand, at the shining golden band she wore. Julian smiled to see it there and Jenny flushed in spite of herself. "Tom and I never stopped loving each other but we knew we had to live for ourselves now. So when we were accepted to different Universities we... separated."

"Tommy couldn't handle the long distance, eh?" Julian said cruelly, but with a sparkle in his eyes to show Jenny he didn't really mean it.

"I don't think either of us could; even now, even though we're no longer Tom-and-Jenny I still miss him, and my heart aches for him..." Jenny glanced away from Julian, unable to bring her forest green eyes up to hold his gaze.

"I see," there was a melancholic tone in Julian's voice but he quickly moved the conversation on with the clap of his hands. "As for me, well."

"Did you find your pleasant dream?" Jenny looked up at him, genuine warmth in her expression.

"..." Julian hesitated and Jenny wasn't sure if he was embarrassed or teasing her. "Yes." She knew it was no good pressing him, he'd either tell her or he wouldn't. Julian was infuriating in that way. "But then, suddenly, I found myself back in the Shadow Realm. With all of my memories and everything, flat on my ass in the middle of that damned diorama in the lighthouse." Jenny suppressed a shudder, thinking about the Games always made her feel uneasy. "Actually, I don't know exactly what happened. One second I was drifting... the next BAM! Corporeal and perfect as ever. Only then they sprung it on me, you know."

The truth dawned on Jenny, then. She wasn't just being used by Julian, she was being used by them all. They brought him back to convince her to save them. They knew that she would do all she could to help Julian who, despite everything, she cared about deeply. And in doing so she would save them all?

The thought seemed to jolt her back into reality somehow. She hadn't realised that suddenly being faced with Julian had put her in a kind of trance. Not the kind of hysterical delight she felt when they had found Summer in Joyland, but still something similar. But now she felt rooted in the real world again and suddenly afraid. Could she really risk saving the whole race of Shadow Men just for Julian?

She realised she had been sitting silent for some time, Julian inspecting her face deeply as if looking for some flaw that hadn't been there in her 16 year old self. "Sorry," she said, looking sheepish.

"It's a lot to take in, Jenny, believe me I know. But I'm here," he smiled, "I'm really here." He lifted his hand from the grass and touched her face as if to prove his point and before she knew it he had leaned in and grazed her lips with his. It wasn't the way she remembered his kisses, electrifying and intense, more like the one he had given her in the cavern when he feared for her life. It was quick and surprisingly chaste, over in an instant but enough to show her he wasn't an illusion.

"Julian..." Her tone was chiding, though she didn't draw away further.

"Kissing the new boy already, eh Jen?" A familiar voice floated over from the pathway and Jenny's head snapped up to see another new friend jogging over - Jamie. She was a pretty but tomboyish girl and Jenny sometimes wondered if she enjoyed Jamie's company so much because she reminded her of Dee. She kept her hair short but her bangs long, constantly flipping them out of her eyes with confident, almost haughty tosses of her head. She demonstrated this now as she flopped down on the grass with Jenny and Julian, forming a triangle with them and grinning mischievously. "You know you're late for class, right?"

Jenny looked at her watch and was shocked to see that it was already two-fifteen. She and Julian had to have been sitting there for at least three hours! She threw him a quick glare, certain that this was his doing and received a look of pure merriment in return; confirming her suspicions.

"Uh, Jamie this is Julian. He's from-"

"Monessen, I know." Jamie stuck out her hand for Julian to shake and he took it gracefully, bringing it to his lips with a gentlemanly flair. Jenny rolled her eyes and Jamie pretended to swoon theatrically.

"Charmed," Julian purred.

"So I guess you two have history then, right? Else you wouldn't be cutting class to smooch," Jamie winked and Jenny flushed bright red. "I thought your high school sweetheart was called Tom?"

"I, well, you see," Jenny stammered and then silently chided herself for being so stupid. She had been through so much, had talked back to Julian at his very worst, had faced untold dangers and countless evils and couldn't even explain a kiss to her friend. But how do you explain all that to someone who wasn't there?

"It's my fault, I'm afraid," Julian said smoothly, "I always loved Jenny but she was so stubbornly devoted to Tommy. I'm afraid I was just hoping that with him out of the picture she might think of me differently now." He drooped his eyes, letting the thick lashes almost touch his cheeks in a demure expression and Jenny had to fight back the urge to laugh.

"...right, whatever," Jamie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Look, if you're cutting you should probably go cut and not sit out here where everyone can see you. You'll get in trouble." With that she heaved herself to her feet and stretched languorously. "Me, I'm going to the park." She meant the skate park, of course. It was several blocks away and not in a great part of town - having been designed to keep the unrulier neighbourhood kids busy - but Jamie didn't care. She loved skating, skateboarding and even just watching others. She didn't seem to own a pair of jeans that wasn't torn from 'wipes' and her elbows and knees seemed to be so scabbed her scabs had scabs.

Jenny watched her friend leave without another word and then realised the sensibility of her suggestion - if they stayed out here sooner or later one of her professors would come along and see her and ask why she wasn't studying or in lectures. Grabbing her bag and shoving the pile of notes Julian had given her - she realised she hadn't get let them go - into it, she hauled him to his feet.

"My accommodation's not far from campus, let's go there to talk. We can always pretend we're studying and I'm bringing you up to speed or something. I'm gonna assume you took all the same courses as me, right?"

"You assume correctly," Julian grinned, following behind Jenny as she walked quickly away, "how else was I to ensure I would spend the maximum amount of time with you this week?"


	3. Chapter 3

Yay an update! Sorry it took so long, my life took over!

Smurflovesicecream this chapter is for you for being my first reviewer, keep letting me know what you think! :D 3

I'm going to attempt to stick to a schedule of at least one update a month, it will likely be more but I can see this being a long one and with all the other things I have to do at the moment I might end up going a few weeks without another update. So I'll try to keep a backlog of chapters to upload so no one gets bored waiting ;)

Jenny and Julian are © L. J. Smith from her trilogy The Forbidden Game. All other characters are figments of your imagination but belong to me anyway because I'm greedy like that ;p

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Jenny unlocked the door of her dorm and ushered Julian in quickly. He gazed around the room with interest, taking in every detail. Unsurprisingly it was not unlike her bedroom at home in California, with just a few small but significant differences. Gone were the things that showed her youth, band posters, stuffed toys and jewellery boxes. Everything was laid out neatly; even her dresser was free from clutter. Julian raised an eyebrow at her seemingly obsessive tidiness and Jenny gave a rueful laugh.

"I almost lost a friend to a messy room once, I swore I'd never let it happen again," she said simply with a shrug.

"Ah, of course," Julian's understanding was complete – he'd been the cause of that heartache, he recalled.

Moving around the room with his usual ethereal grace, Julian picked up trinkets and tokens, examined them and put them back neatly where he found them. Jenny permitted him this time to take in her living space, this was the only place he couldn't have seen before after all. Well, at least she hoped not – but then, he had found her even here in Florida so perhaps he was still spying on her from the Shadow World? Jenny shivered at the thought and Julian looked at her solemnly.

"I'm not spying on you, haven't been spying on you," he explained, as if reading her thoughts. "You said once that I should have considered just asking you instead of playing games and watching you secretly, I figured it might be worth a try since none of my own methods have worked," his beautiful face twisted in a grimace that was almost a smile.

"Thank you," Jenny replied with genuine appreciation.

Placing her bag under her small desk, she motioned for Julian to take the chair before flopping down on the bed.

"So. Tell me more about what's happening in the Shadow World. Maybe if we know more we can do something about it."

"I hope so, dear Jenny." Julian seated himself after pulling the chair closer to the bed. "Well as I told you, I don't know what happened after they scratched my name from the runestave. But…" His eyes glazed over and he looked distant. "Jenny, I was…" He sighed and Jenny felt concerned. It wasn't often Julian was lost for words. She stayed quiet, knowing well enough from having so many friends that sometimes people just need their own space and time to think before they talked.

"I was in a beautiful place, filled with light. Thank you."

"A garden?" Jenny queried, gazing into those impossibly blue eyes.

"Yes, a garden. With exotic plants, a fountain and everywhere filled with light. Everything seemed to glow. Thank you. Again."

Jenny nodded, unable to trust herself to speak. As Julian had faded away in her arms she had promised him she would try to dream him into a place filled with light and her dreams had been of a garden. She had imagined Julian enjoying everything there, the naturalness of the place. It seemed it had worked.

"But anyway," Julian said, clearing his throat, "when I got back I'm sorry to say the Shadow World is as dreadful as ever. Worse, even. As far as I was able to discern – they're not exactly forthcoming with information, especially to me who has already proven myself a traitor to our kind – someone from one of the other Nine Worlds is interfering with ours. I don't know who and I don't know why. All I know is that they're trying to erase us from existence, and it's working."

Jenny groaned. "Don't tell me I have to go back to that horrible place," she glared at Julian, "they're not overly fond of me either, you know."

"No," Julian laughed, and his laugh was completely different to how Jenny remembered him. He was… changed, somehow, to what she remembered. "But we might have to go somewhere else, we need to find out where the source of this is coming from and stop it. Or, at least, that's what I'm told."

"And you're sure they're not just tricking you, you're tricky people you know." Jenny's tone was full of scepticism, remembering all of the 'games' and tricks Julian had played on them two years previously.

Julian placed his hand over his heart and gazed at her solemnly. "I swear that I have seen things happen with my own eyes. I've watched Shadow Men I'm having a conversation with vanish before my eyes. The Shadow Park is a shambles, some of the rides have disappeared, others are simply… halved. My House has gone," he said, referencing the paper house where Jenny and her friends had first met Julian in his Game.

"Right," Jenny rose from the bed, flicking her honey-coloured hair out of her face with a decisive toss of her head – she'd learned that from Dee – and crossed the room to the closet. Yanking open the door she rummaged around for a while before emerging with a large, tattered box. Dragging it over to the bed, she flipped off the lid and began to pull out books of all shapes and sizes. Julian recognised some of them as ones her grandfather had had copies of in his basement, others were new to him but all seemed to be about mythology, runes and other related subjects. He raised an eyebrow and colour rose in Jenny's cheeks.

"I was researching to see if there was any way we could bring you back, okay?" She confessed, blushing furiously. Why did Julian always manage to make her feel this way? After the incident with the cave and the water her feelings towards him had changed, even though he no longer managed to fluster her with his mere perfection she still found herself caring what he thought. She supposed that when someone gives their life for you it has to have an effect.

"Jenny, I'm touched," Julian said with no hint of amusement or mocking, reaching over to touch her hand then thinking better of it and drawing back.

"Don't be," Jenny cleared her throat, "just get reading. Let's see what we can find." She heaved half the stack of books at Julian then settled herself into a comfortable reading position on her bed and flipped open the top book; 'Yggdrassil – The Nine Worlds'.

"Aha!" Julian leapt to his feet with a triumphant expression and turned to the bed.

Jenny stirred, her face almost stuck to the book she had fallen asleep reading. "Oh, sorry," she mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, "I guess I fell asleep, how are you not tired?"

"I didn't even notice, sorry," Julian confessed, "I don't sleep. None of us do. Anyway," he crossed the short distance from the desk to the bed and seated himself beside Jenny; leaning back against her outstretched legs, "look at this."

"'Of the Nine Worlds the Norse believed were encompassed by Yggdrassil, the World Tree, one is shunned by all others – Niflheim, the land of Shadows and Ice.' We knew that already, you told us in the Shadow Park, remember?"

"Yes, keep reading," Julian prodded the page impatiently.

'The denizens of this world were considered destructive and cruel so that only Midgard, the world we call Earth, did not close its pathways to Niflheim.' The book continued and Jenny tried to read quickly to get to the point. 'But this was not always so. Some old Norse documents tell of a great war between Niflheim and Alfheim – the world of Light and Air. From what we can discern from these translations this battle took place on three worlds – Niflheim, Alfheim and our own, Midgard. The documents do not say why they brought the battles to our world, but it would seem that the Norse fought valiantly for the side of Alfheim and eventually drove the Shadow Men of Niflheim back to their own lands.'

"So you think this could be the key? That Alfheim is trying to eradicate Niflheim once and for all, like they failed to do centuries ago?" Jenny set the book down in front of her and rested her head on her arms sleepily, unable to move further because Julian was still leaning on her legs.

"Perhaps," Julian said cryptically, "it certainly wouldn't be a long shot, and I haven't found anything else in any of the books so far about any other known enemies of the Shadow World. Frankly, I'm astonished your human books have any record at all of our battles."

"Mhm," Jenny grunted, "it's only legends really, you need to go find out if it's true. The ancient Norse people may have made it all up to explain other stuff that happened around then. I don't know."

Julian looked at her with a strange expression as her eyelids flickered; she was trying so hard to stay awake for him.

"Yes, I think I'll go and do that now. You sleep, I'll be back." Leaning across the bed her kissed her forehead gently and her eyes flicked open again for a second but he was already gone. With a sigh Jenny glanced at the clock – 23:59 it read so she shoved the books off the bed onto the floor and let her head fall back onto the pillow, hoping Julian would be able to get to the bottom of the problem before she awoke.


End file.
